


Checkmate with the Cat Chess Piece

by Zy_Khrymzynn



Series: Zy's Shortfic Collection [5]
Category: Code Geass
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Identity Reveal, The Most Important Cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25320550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zy_Khrymzynn/pseuds/Zy_Khrymzynn
Summary: So I rewatched that one episode where Lelouch chases a cat around his school to avoid revealing himself as Zero, and of course I thought the inevitable. What if Lelouch got found out? I mean, it's surprising it didn't happen.Or: Arthur is either an absolute bastard or the savior of Brittannia, depending on who you ask.
Series: Zy's Shortfic Collection [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1575364
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	Checkmate with the Cat Chess Piece

**Author's Note:**

> As a cat owner, Arthur is 100% accurate portrayal of cat.   
> That's why if I ever were to take up a secret identity, I would keep all cats far away.  
> Not like I would ever need to do that....

Of all the things that would ruin his plans, it had to be a damn  _ cat _ of all things. Out of all the games he had learned how to play, reality was proving to be the most difficult. One-in-a-million chances, pieces he didn’t even know were a part of the game, random events that happen out of nowhere, all of these things apply in real time. The odds of a damn  _ cat _ of all things being an important piece, or even a piece he would have to dedicate any time at all to thinking about, had been so minimal to the point where the thought had never even crossed his mind. But here he was, chasing a cat around Ashford Academy, a cat that was wearing the mask of Zero. He mentally thanked all the gods he knew of that Ashford Academy hadn’t installed security cameras, otherwise this would be over before it even started.

Was there options for him to bolster his numbers? Maybe if he had some of the terrorists he could surround the cat, but he couldn’t do anything in his current state. Kallen maybe? No, she was already suspicious of him, because of course his Geass would only work on someone once. He cursed himself for not thinking of a better evasion for asking about Shinjuku. 

Still, this damn cat was an absolute  _ bastard _ , and evading every attempt for him to capture it. And physical activities weren’t really his thing anyways, so he was starting to feel tired from running. The cat ran past a group of two girls, who noticed the cat and of course noticed the mask, and recognized it at Zero’s, probably because of the wanted poster on the billboard the two were standing in front of. Of course, his luck couldn’t really get any worse. But at least he hadn’t used Geass on these two yet.

“Hey, did you notice anything suspicious?” He asked aloud. The two female students looked up at him. Perfect, he had direct eye contact.

**“Forget everything that you’ve seen in the past two minutes.”** He spoke, the power of Geass flooding through his words.

“Alright.” The two girls said, and then resumed what they were doing. Alright, time to catch a stupid cat.

“You said it was a cat?” Milly asked. It was hard to believe that the always-stoic Lelouch reacted to a cat of all things.

“Yeah, it was a cat.” Nunnaly replied. “I think it was carrying something important to Lelouch. I’ve never heard him sound like that.”

Of course that got her brain turning. Exactly  _ what _ could that cat be carrying that would make Lelouch act emotional at all? The possibilities…

“Could it be a love letter?” Nina asked from beside her. It probably wasn’t a love letter, it wasn’t Lelouch’s style. But could it be…

“An embarrassing photo?” She asked aloud, although she was trying to think of something that would be embarrassing for him.

“Some bad poetry he wrote?” Rivalz asked, and she couldn’t help but stare at him. Lelouch writing poetry? She couldn’t help but smile at the thought.

“Whatever it is.” She said. “We’re going to find it. C’mon guys, let’s go over to the media room and make an announcement!”

He almost swore as the cat dodged his attempt to grab it yet again, and ended up in a bush. This cat felt like it was deliberately insulting him, as it jumped down about seven meters in front of him and ran off. This was humiliating. What sort of decisions in his life have led up to the point where his identity as Zero is going to be revealed by a damn cat?

But that’s the situation he’s in, and there’s only a few moves he can make in this game to avoid checkmate. Perhaps one of the more difficult games he’s played at this point, but he can most certainly pull out a victory.

There was the artificial bell noise, signalling a schoolwide announcement. Hopefully there was going to be some sort of school event, distracting everyone so he can focus on catching this  _ damn cat. _

_ “Attention all students, cat hunt everybody!” _ The voice of the Student Council president rang through the halls.  _ “There’s a cat loose in the school that’s carrying something important! Clubs that participate in the cat hunt will get priority funding! And the winner will receive a kiss from someone on the Student Council! And bring the thing it’s carrying to me, me, me!” _

And of course the universe decided this was his day to be tossed down the stairs and have the door slammed in his face, Milly had decided to do the one thing that she possibly could do that would make his job the most difficult. It was a longshot, but at least he can  _ try _ .

But of course there was an advantage to this, in a way. It’d be slightly less suspicious that he’s chasing the cat, because he’s just another person chasing the cat.

He heard the people from the horse riding club yelling something about having “an advantage in mobility”, which they did have. He never thought he’d be  _ wanting _ to get back into a Knightmare, but what he wouldn’t give at this point for a Southerland. Hell, even something like a Glasgow would be enough. Of course that’s wishful thinking on his part, there’s only a single Knightmare in the school, and it’s the Ashford family’s Ganymede, an antique model, that he doesn’t have access to anyways.

Aaand he lost the cat. He knew cats could run fast when they wanted to, but he had never seen any sort of cat run for this long without laying on the ground and just relaxing for six hours. Of all the cats that could’ve gotten his Zero helmet, it had to be this one cat that decided it wanted to run all over the damn school. He’s not losing to a cat!

In terms of the amount of moves he has access to, he’s severely limited. So if he was a bastard cat, where would he go? Thankfully the universe decided to throw him a bone and the cat meowed, a loud noise reverberating in a large room. The storehouse! Of course! Looks like the board is still open for making moves.

“A kiss from a member of the student council? That means we can pick, right? And Kallen’s been hanging around the Student Council a lot.”

“It’s not going to be like some peck on the cheek, right?”

“You mean we get to choose where we’re kissed? Alright!”

She jumped up as two groups of boys jumped out of the bushes, and then ran off. Ugh, there’s no way she’s going to give a kiss to these degenerates. What the hell was Milly thinking? Thankfully there wasn’t anyone around the area, so she could start running. Like hell she was going to let someone else catch this stupid cat. A cat of all things! Brittanians get so up in a fuzz about the silliest of things. But she will admit that she’s a little bit curious about what this cat is carrying.

Two girls passed by, and she was forced to slow down to a walking speed. She hates having to feign being sick all of this time, but it’s a convenient lie so she could help the Black Knights and Zero.

From what she had seen and witnessed, Zero was capable of pulling off miracles, sneaking into Prince Clovis’ personal transport, and later freeing a Suzaku Kururugi. Why this one honorary Brittanian was so important she had no idea. But Zero did it, somehow. And she only figured out who Suzaku was because he’s in some of her classes now.

Well she’ll think about this whole thing later. She has to catch this cat to save herself.

Another group of girls walked past, forcing her to slow down again. Damn, why are there so many people? The girls were talking to each other.

“Oh, a kiss from a member of the student council? Does that include Lelouch?” And then all the girls started giggling. She personally never saw the appeal, but hey, she already knew that Brittanians were crazy.

One of the girls, green pigtails if she recalls correctly, spoke up timidly about preferring a kiss from Milly, and of course she was laughed at.

Well at least they’re gone now, and she can run again. As she was running, there was another announcement.  _ “I think the cat had a hurt leg, it’s footsteps were irregular.” _ The voice of Nunnaly, a middle school student who she’s seen around the student council hall sometimes.  _ “Oh, and it’s meow sounded like this: Meeooow!” _

Well at least the first part was helpful. But she needed to keep running.

And of course she runs directly into someone. After taking a look up to see who she ran into, it was Shirley, still in her swimsuit.

“Shirley, why are you still in your swimsuit?” She asked, because out of all things, that was the first thing that popped into her head.

“I heard that Milly was going to make one of us kiss someone! I can’t let that happen!” Shirley said.

“Well I’m in the same boat.” She replied. “Let’s work together to catch this cat.” She took off her outer jacket and handed it to Shirley. It wasn’t much, but it was better than a swimsuit.

Eventually, they cornered the cat behind a cabinet.

“Alright, I’ll go in from the front, and you’ll go from the rear. We’ll be able to corner the cat and find what it’s holding.” A sound strategy, they’ll be sure to win.

“Wait, who are you going to get a kiss from?” Shirley asked, right before they were about to start. “It wouldn’t be Lulu, wouldn’t it?”

Ugh, she had barely even started hanging around the Student Council, and she already figured out that Shirley had a crush on Lelouch. (Why, she would never know, but hey, Brittanians are weird.) Why Shirley wouldn’t just  _ go for it _ was beyond her.

“I never got to that part of the plan. I don’t know I’ll figure it out later.” Honestly the whole kiss thing was the last on her mind, she didn’t really care, all that mattered was that  _ she _ wasn’t the one doing the kissing.

“Well just make sure it’s not Lulu, okay?”

“Sure. Now let’s just catch this cat.”

But the cat managed to slip past in all the confusion, so they were back to square one. “C’mon Shirley, let’s go find this cat.”

“Suzaku, what are you doing here?”

He hadn’t expected Suzaku to participate in this whole thing, but of course he would. So this makes things even more difficult. He had tracked the cat into this building, this isn’t what he needed.

“I need to get this cat!”

The more time he wasted here the more likely that he wouldn’t be able to get the mask back. He refused to lose to a stupid feline.

“Hey everyone! Come look what the cat has on its head!” A girl came into the room they were in. “I couldn’t believe it myself!”

Thankfully Suzaku ran out to see what the cat was carrying, which gave him time to plan. There were three people here at Ashford Academy who he had used his Geass on, so that was out of the plan. Of course this would be how Zero was found out.

Game over then, checkmate.

Well, time to figure out an escape plan. He’d been planning ways to change his appearance if necessary, and he’s met one or two people who would be able to help him out, and he can ensure they don’t leak the secret with Geass.

Time to restart the game.

“Isn’t that Zero’s mask?”

“No it can’t be! That would mean that Zero is at Ashford Academy!”

“Does that mean that Zero is a student?”

“We should try to find out who Zero really is! There’s reward money for his capture. C’mon dudes, I’ll split the reward cash. Maybe we could even get knighted!”

That mask was Zero’s, that much he could tell. The design was identical, all aspects were the same. And he recognized that cat, it was Arthur. Which of course made this only more confusing.

Wait, didn’t Milly say that whatever the cat had was important to Lelouch? So that means that Lelouch had Zero’s mask for some reason. Could it be?

His one conversation with Zero, Zero spoke in a similar way, he was even reminded of Lelouch…

He couldn’t believe it, but the evidence added up…

His earpiece went off. Lloyd probably.

_ “Hello Suzaku, you have been ordered to find Zero. Lancelot is right outside the school.” _

Like it or not, he has a mission. Capture Zero. Lelouch. Whoever he wants to call himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Quick question: If you were given the power of Geass (specifically Lelouch's Geass), what would you do?


End file.
